A Friday Note - 01 September 2017

Dear all,

A chilly start to the week with the metropolitan area feeling the coldest day of the year so far.

SAFETY

After much hard work and collaboration with industry, it’s extremely pleasing for our department to have a Minimum Construction Safety Expectations document, which will improve safety on our construction projects and has the potential to save lives.The Minimum Construction Safety Expectations recognise that everyone in construction work has health and safety responsibilities. They are specifically written to inform Principal Contractors, Sub-Contractors and workers of the “must-dos” and “must haves” on any DPTI worksite.A great example of safety in this sphere is Lendlease, who achieved a million hours without a lost time injury on the Convention Centre. The Premier set the tone for this project with an initial and continuing insistence on safety as the primary goal.Acknowledgement is also due to our independent safety auditors on that job: David Cockbain, Grace Robinson and Tony Reczek, who started the complete reformation in how we deal with safety across the department, industry and the State.As of midnight on Thursday, August 31, there had been 68 fatalities on South Australian roads so far this year.

MAJOR MILESTONES

It has been a massive week for our department on many fronts.On Tuesday, a huge crowd of hundreds of staff were on hand at Adelaide Oval to celebrate many, many years of service with certificates handed out for staff who’d worked 25, 30, 35, 40, 45 and 50 or more years. Well done to all.On Friday, it’s the turn of the young talent in the department to take centre stage at the Youth Excellence Awards – with awards handed out for Excellence, Innovation, Customer Service, Safety and Culture, as well as the Emerging Leader Award.Wednesday night saw the official opening of the new East building of the Adelaide Convention Centre. This was amazing and considerable prominence was given to the department in the construction phase. Again well done and this is an exciting development for South Australia. A brilliant job.This Sunday, though, is the big one - the official opening of the new Royal Adelaide Hospital. All South Australians will be proud of this achievement. While not without its challenges it is now the best of its kind. Again many of our staff continue to be involved and have done a great job.Meanwhile on the sporting front two finals in the AFL for Adelaide teams at Adelaide Oval is also pretty awesome.

CLADDING AUDIT

The important work of auditing cladding on buildings throughout Adelaide continues. Phase 1 of the audit of buildings in the Adelaide CBD has been completed, which involved the identification and reporting on the presence of aluminium composite cladding panels. Following receipt of the report identifying buildings that require further consideration, Minister Rau announced the commencement of Phase 2 of the audit, which will involve a detailed analysis of the building certification, plans and documentation and site inspections of the buildings identified.More information and regular updates on the building audit process can be found on the SA Planning Portal.

AWARD WINNERS

Our department and contractor Coleman Rail were recognised at the Earth Awards last week, for ‘Best Innovation for a project between $1-5million’ for the Port River Bridge Project. The project used a “lifting frame” to carry out important works on the Outer Harbor line on the Port River Bridge preventing damage to the sensitive Port River environment.

E-SMART

Each week our library receives and e-newsletter from the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA). This week’s newsletter is promoting National eSmart Week (September 4-8), which aims to educate communities on how to be smart, safe and responsible when using digital technology. Register here for free cyber safety webinars.

VALE KATE RAFTERY

It is with sadness that we note the passing of Kate Raftery earlier this week following a long and determined battle with Leukaemia. Kate started with the department in 2003 and was a highly regarded and respected team leader within the Information Management unit. Her smile, strong will and compassion will be cherished by those that met and worked with her.

FLASHBACK FRIDAY

Thanks to Babu Varatharaju for this week’s Flashback Friday photo, which is of King William Street in the 1950s.